37990 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 135 / Monday, July 19, 2021 / Notices 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at www.regulations.gov 

or in our reading room, which is located 

in room 1620 of the USDA South 

Building, 14th Street and Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC. Normal 

reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. To be sure someone is there to 

help you, please call (202) 799–7039 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the National Poultry 

Improvement Plan, contact Dr. Elena 

Behnke, DVM, Senior Coordinator, 

National Poultry Improvement Plan, 

Veterinary Services, APHIS, 1506 

Klondike Road SW, Suite 101, Conyers, 

GA 30094; (770) 922–3496. For more 

detailed information on the information 

collection, contact Mr. Joseph Moxey, 

APHIS’ Paperwork Reduction Act 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2483. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: National Poultry Improvement 

Plan. 

OMB Control Number: 0579–0007. 

Type of Request: Revision to and 

extension of approval of an information 

collection. 

Abstract: Under the Animal Health 

Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.), 

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture is authorized, among 

other things, to administer the National 

Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), the 

primary purpose of which is to protect 

the health of the U.S. poultry 

population. NPIP is a Federal-Stateindustry cooperative program for the 

improvement of poultry flocks and 

products through disease control 

techniques. Participation in all NPIP 

programs is voluntary, but flocks, 

hatcheries, and dealers of breeding 

poultry must first qualify as ‘‘U.S. 

Pullorum-Typhoid Clean’’ as a 

condition for participation in NPIP 

programs. The NPIP regulations are 

contained in 9 CFR part 56 and parts 

145 through 147. 

To administer the NPIP, APHIS 

requires a number of activities that 

include memoranda of understanding; 

flock selecting and testing reports and 

commercial waterfowl/game bird egg 

producing flock surveillance; reports of 

sales of hatching eggs, chicks and poults 

(including printing and mailing 

computerized printouts for small 

shipments); summaries of breeding 

flock, table-egg layer flock, meat-type 

chicken and turkey slaughter plant 

participation; reports of hatcheries, 

dealers, and independent flocks, tableegg producers, meat-type chicken and 

turkey slaughter plants participating in 

the NPIP; investigations of salmonella 

isolations in poultry; flock inspection 

and check testing reports; and hatchery 

inspection forms. Activities also include 

banding or marking of sentinel birds for 

identification prior to flock vaccination; 

requests for salmonella serotyping; 

applications for U.S. Avian influenza 

and Newcastle Clean Compartment and 

Clean Component Registrations and 

requests for removal; component audits; 

auditor applications for NPIP AI Clean 

Compartment Program; and compliance 

statements. Activities further include 

descriptions of animal identification 

and traceability processes; laboratory 

examination for Newcastle disease and 

reporting; diagnostic test evaluations; 

Newcastle disease biosecurity plans; 

indemnity compliance agreements; 

appraisal and indemnity claims for 

animals or materials destroyed; initial 

state response and containment plan; 

and recordkeeping. 

The information collection 

requirements listed above represent 

activities currently filed under Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) control 

number 0579–0007, National Poultry 

Improvement Plan, and OMB control 

number 0579–0474, National Poultry 

Improvement Plan and Auxiliary 

Provisions. After OMB approves this 

combined information collection 

package (0579–0007), APHIS will retire 

OMB control number 0579–0474. 

We are asking OMB to approve our 

use of these information collection 

activities, as described, for an additional 

3 years. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

comments from the public (as well as 

affected agencies) concerning our 

information collection. These comments 

will help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, through use, as 

appropriate, of automated, electronic, 

mechanical, and other collection 

technologies; e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

Estimate of burden: The public 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 0.475 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: State agriculture 

officials; flock owners; breeders; 

hatchery operators; table-egg, meat-type 

chicken, and meat-type turkey 

producers; feedlot and slaughter plant 

personnel; approved laboratory 

personnel; prospective and certified 

auditors; visitors; and associated 

entities. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 2,867. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 82. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 234,630. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 111,339 hours. (Due to 

averaging, the total annual burden hours 

may not equal the product of the annual 

number of responses multiplied by the 

reporting burden per response.) 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of 

July 2021. 

Jack Shere, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15185 Filed 7–16–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Farm Service Agency 

[Docket ID FSA–2021–0007] 

Notice of Funds Availability; Pandemic 

Livestock Indemnity Program (PLIP) 

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, 

Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Notification of funding 

availability. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Service Agency 

(FSA) is issuing this notice announcing 

the availability of funds for the 

Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program 

(PLIP) to provide assistance to 

producers for losses of livestock and 

poultry depopulated from March 1, 

2020, through December 26, 2020, due 

to insufficient processing access as a 

result of the COVID–19 pandemic and 

for the cost of depopulation and 

disposal. FSA is implementing PLIP, as 

authorized by the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly Graham, Director; telephone: 

(202) 720–6825; email: 

Kimberly.Graham@usda.gov. Persons 

with disabilities who require alternative 

means for communication should 

contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 


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1EQIP is administered by USDA’s Natural 

Resources Conservation Service according to the 

regulations in 7 CFR part 1466. 

2The AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of 

Animals is available at: https://www.avma.org/sites/ 

default/files/resources/AVMA-Guidelines-for-theDepopulation-of-Animals.pdf. 

720–2600 (voice) or 844–433–2774 (tollfree nationwide). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FSA is implementing PLIP, as 

authorized by CAA (Pub. L. 116–260) 

and as directed by the USDA Secretary, 

to make payments to producers of 

livestock and poultry for losses of 

livestock or poultry depopulated before 

December 27, 2020, due to insufficient 

processing access, based on 80 percent 

of the fair market value of that livestock 

and poultry, and for the cost of 

depopulation (other than costs already 

compensated under the Environmental 

Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) 1). 

The CAA also provides that the 

Secretary may take into consideration 

whether a producer has been 

compensated for the cost of 

depopulation under a State program. 

This assistance will be available to 

producers through PLIP as provided in 

this notice. FSA is administering PLIP. 

Definitions 

The definitions in parts 718 and 1400 

of this title apply to PLIP, except as 

otherwise provided in this document. 

Contract grower means a person or 

legal entity who grows or produces 

eligible livestock under contract for or 

on behalf of another person or entity. 

The contract grower’s income is 

dependent upon the successful 

production of livestock or offspring 

from livestock. The contract grower 

does not have ownership in the 

livestock and is not entitled to a share 

from sales proceeds of the livestock. 

Depopulation means, consistent with 

the American Veterinary Medical 

Association (AVMA) 2 definition, the 

rapid destruction of a population of 

livestock or poultry due to insufficient 

processing access during the COVID–19 

pandemic with as much consideration 

given to the welfare of the animals as 

practicable. 

Live poultry dealer means a live 

poultry dealer as defined in section 2(a) 

of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 

(7 U.S.C. 182(10)). Therefore, live 

poultry dealer means any person 

engaged in the business of obtaining live 

poultry by purchase or under a poultry 

growing arrangement for the purpose of 

either slaughtering it or selling it for 

slaughter by another, if poultry is 

obtained by such person in commerce, 

or if poultry obtained by such person is 

sold or shipped in commerce, or if 

poultry products from poultry obtained 

by such person are sold or shipped in 

commerce. 

Packer means a packer as defined in 

section 201 of the Packers and 

Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191)). 

Therefore, packer means any person 

engaged in the business: 

(a) Of buying livestock in commerce 

for purposes of slaughter; 

(b) Of manufacturing or preparing 

meats or meat food products for sale or 

shipment in commerce; or 

(c) Of marketing meats, meat food 

products, or livestock products in an 

unmanufactured form acting as a 

wholesale broker, dealer, or distributor 

in commerce. 

Swine means a domesticated 

omnivorous pig, hog, sow, or boar. 

Swine for purposes of dividing into 

categories for payment calculations are 

further delineated by sex and weight, as 

determined by FSA. 

Eligible Livestock and Poultry 

Eligible livestock and poultry include 

swine, chickens, and turkeys because 

FSA has determined that producers of 

these livestock and poultry types 

suffered losses and incurred costs for 

depopulation due to insufficient 

processing access during the COVID–19 

pandemic. In addition to the eligible 

livestock and poultry types listed in this 

notice, the Deputy Administrator for 

Farm Programs may announce 

additional eligible livestock categories if 

FSA later determines that other 

livestock were also depopulated due to 

insufficient processing access as a result 

of the COVID–19 pandemic. 

Eligible livestock and poultry must 

have been depopulated from March 1, 

2020, through December 26, 2020, due 

to insufficient processing access as a 

result of the COVID–19 pandemic in 

order to be eligible for PLIP. The 

livestock and poultry must have been 

physically located in the United States 

or a territory of the United States at the 

time of depopulation to be eligible. 

Eligible livestock does not include 

livestock not born, such as unborn 

swine that were depopulated during 

pre-farrowing. 

Eligible Livestock Owners and Poultry 

Owners 

Eligible livestock owners and poultry 

owners include only persons or legal 

entities who, as of the day the eligible 

livestock or poultry was depopulated, 

had the legal ownership of the livestock 

or poultry. 

To be eligible for PLIP, a livestock or 

poultry owner must be any of the 

following: 

(1) Citizen of the United States; 

(2) Resident alien, which for purposes 

of this subpart means ‘‘lawful alien’’ as 

defined in 7 CFR part 1400; 

(3) Partnership of citizens or resident 

aliens of the United States; 

(4) Corporation, limited liability 

company, or other organizational 

structure organized under State law 

solely owned by U.S. citizens or 

resident aliens; or 

(5) Indian Tribe or Tribal 

organization, as defined in section 4(b) 

of the Indian Self-Determination and 

Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

5304). 

Ineligible Livestock Owners and 

Poultry Owners 

Ineligible livestock owners and 

poultry owners include: 

(1) Contract growers; 

(2) Federal, State and local 

governments, including public schools; 

(3) Live poultry dealers; and 

(4) Packers. 

Application Process 

FSA will accept the applications from 

July 20, 2021, through September 17, 

2021. To apply for PLIP, eligible 

livestock owners and poultry owners 

must submit a complete FSA–620, 

Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program 

(PLIP) Application, in person, by mail, 

email, or facsimile to any FSA county 

office. 

Applicants must also submit all of the 

following items, if not previously filed 

with FSA: 

• AD–2047, Customer Data 

Worksheet for new customers or 

existing customers needing to update 

their customer profile; 

• Form CCC–902, Farm Operating 

Plan for an individual or legal entity as 

provided in 7 CFR part 1400; 

• Form CCC–901, Member 

Information for Legal Entities (if 

applicable); 

• An average adjusted gross income 

statement for the 2020 program year for 

the person or legal entity, including the 

legal entity’s members, partners, 

shareholders, heirs, or beneficiaries as 

provided in 7 CFR part 1400; form CCC– 

941 Average Adjusted Gross Income 

(AGI) Certification and Consent to 

Disclosure of Tax Information; and 

• A highly erodible land conservation 

(sometimes referred to as HELC) and 

wetland conservation certification as 

provided in 7 CFR part 12 (form AD– 

1026 Highly Erodible Land 

Conservation (HELC) and Wetland 

Conservation (WC) Certification for PLIP 

applicant and applicable affiliates). 


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3 Information on common methods of 

depopulation and associated costs is available from 

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/ 

animalhealth/livestock-coordination-center/ 

livestock-coordination-center. 4The portion of the CFAP 1 payment for hogs and 

pigs that was funded under the Coronavirus Aid, 

Relief, and Economic Stability Act (CARES Act; 

Pub. L. 116–136) was based on inventory sold 

between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020; 

therefore, no reduction is necessary for that portion 

of the CFAP 1 payment. 

Applicants must submit all required 

eligibility documentation specified 

above, as applicable, no later than 60 

days from the date an applicant signs 

and submits the FSA–620. When the 

applicant does not timely submit the 

required eligibility documentation, FSA 

will not issue a payment. When the 

required documentation is not timely 

submitted for a member of a legal entity, 

FSA will reduce the payment based on 

the member’s ownership share of the 

legal entity. 

If requested by FSA, the applicant 

must provide supporting documentation 

to substantiate the information on their 

application and ownership of the 

livestock and poultry claimed on the 

application. Examples of supporting 

documentation that may be requested 

include veterinarian records, feeding 

records, inventory records, rendering 

receipts, purchase receipts, and other 

records determined acceptable by the 

relevant FSA county committee. If any 

supporting documentation is requested, 

the documentation must be submitted to 

FSA within 30 days from the request or 

the application will be disapproved by 

FSA. 

Payment 

PLIP payments compensate 

participants for both the loss of the 

eligible livestock or poultry and for the 

cost of depopulation and disposal. To 

simplify administration of PLIP, FSA 

has determined a single payment rate 

per head for each of the categories in the 

table below. The categories and market 

values are consistent with the categories 

and nationwide prices used to 

administer the Livestock Indemnity 

Program (LIP), 7 CFR part 1416, subpart 

D, for 2020. The estimated cost of 

depopulation is based on USDA’s 

estimates of the average costs of 

common methods used to depopulate 

animals.3 The estimated cost of disposal 

is based on the costs of common 

disposal methods and rates used in 

EQIP. The disposal rates are weighted 

based on the number of participants 

paid under EQIP by disposal method. If 

additional categories are determined to 

be eligible after publication of this 

notice, those categories and payments 

rates will be announced by press release 

and outreach to stakeholders by the 

Deputy Administrator for Farm 

Programs. 

Eligible livestock or poultry category 

Market value 

per head 

(after 80 

percent factor) 

Depopulation 

& disposal 

cost per head 

(after 80 

percent factor) 

Depopulation 

payment rate 

per head 

(after 80 

percent factor) 

Swine: Boars and sows; 451 lbs. or greater ............................................................................... $173.25 $85.32 $258.57 

Swine: Sows, boars, barrows, and gilts; 251–450 lbs ................................................................ 111.74 47.13 158.88 

Swine: Sows, boars, barrows, and gilts; 151–250 lbs ................................................................ 87.97 34.13 122.10 

Swine: Lightweight barrows and gilts; 50–150 lbs ...................................................................... 68.38 20.32 88.70 

Swine: Suckling nursery pigs; less than 50 lbs ........................................................................... 48.81 6.50 55.31 

Chickens: Chicks ......................................................................................................................... 0.26 0.06 0.32 

Chickens: Super roasters and parts; 7.76 lbs. or greater ........................................................... 4.17 1.14 5.31 

Chickens: Roasters; 6.26–7.75 lbs .............................................................................................. 3.17 0.87 4.04 

Chickens: Broilers, pullets; 4.26–6.25 lbs ................................................................................... 2.50 0.68 3.18 

Chickens: Pullets, Cornish hens; less than 4.26 lbs ................................................................... 1.70 0.46 2.16 

Chickens: Layers ......................................................................................................................... 3.64 1.30 4.94 

Turkeys: Poults ............................................................................................................................ 1.33 0.82 2.15 

Turkeys: Toms, fryers, and roasters ........................................................................................... 12.85 2.72 15.57 

PLIP payments will be calculated by 

multiplying the number of head of 

eligible livestock or poultry by the 

depopulation payment rate per head 

from the table above, and then 

subtracting the amount of any payments 

the eligible livestock owner or poultry 

owner has received for disposal of the 

livestock or poultry under EQIP or a 

State program. The payments will also 

be reduced by any Coronavirus Food 

Assistance Program 1 and 2 (CFAP 1 

and 2) payments paid on the same 

inventory of swine that were 

depopulated.4 FSA will issue payments 

to eligible livestock owners and poultry 

owners as applications are received. 

PLIP is not subject to payment 

limitation. 

Provisions Requiring Refund to FSA 

In the event that any application for 

a PLIP payment resulted from erroneous 

information reported by the applicant, 

the payment will be recalculated, and 

the participant must refund any excess 

payment to FSA including interest to be 

calculated from the date of the 

disbursement to the PLIP participant. If, 

for whatever reason, FSA determines 

that the applicant misrepresented either 

the total amount or the producer’s share 

of the head of livestock or poultry, the 

application will be disapproved and the 

participant must refund the full PLIP 

payment to FSA with interest from the 

date of disbursement. Any required 

refunds must be resolved in accordance 

with 7 CFR part 3. 

Miscellaneous Provisions 

A person or legal entity, other than a 

joint venture or general partnership, is 

ineligible for PLIP payments if the 

person’s or legal entity’s average 

adjusted gross income (AGI), using the 

average of the adjusted gross incomes 

for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 tax years, 

exceeds $900,000. With respect to joint 

ventures and general partnerships, this 

AGI provision will be applied to 

members of the joint venture and 

general partnership. AGI provisions are 

applicable to members of a legal entity, 

including a general partnership or joint 

venture who are at or above the fourth 

tier of ownership in the business 

structure. The eligible livestock owner’s 

payment will be reduced by the portion 

of a payment attributed to a member 

who exceeds the $900,000 AGI 


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limitation or is otherwise ineligible for 

payment. 

Payments will be attributed to 

individual persons and members of 

entities through the direct attribution 

process described in 7 CFR 1400.105. 

An applicant that is a legal entity will 

be required to provide the names and 

taxpayer identification numbers of the 

members holding an ownership interest 

in the legal entity as described in 7 CFR 

1400.107. A reduction in payment will 

be applied to the payment entity if the 

fourth tier of ownership in the legal 

entity is that of a legal entity and not 

that of an individual person. 

If an individual or legal entity is not 

eligible to receive PLIP payments due to 

the individual or legal entity failing to 

satisfy some other payment eligibility 

provision such as AGI or conservation 

compliance provisions, the payment 

made either directly or indirectly to the 

individual or legal entity will be 

reduced to zero. The amount of the 

reduction for the direct payment to the 

applicant will be commensurate with 

the direct or indirect ownership interest 

of the ineligible individual or ineligible 

legal entity. 

General requirements that apply to 

other FSA-administered commodity 

programs also apply to PLIP, including 

compliance with the provisions of 7 

CFR part 12, ‘‘Highly Erodible Land and 

Wetland Conservation,’’ and the 

provisions of 7 CFR 718.6, which 

address ineligibility for benefits for 

offenses involving controlled 

substances. Appeal regulations specified 

in 7 CFR parts 11 and 780 and equitable 

relief and finality provisions specified 

in 7 CFR part 718, subpart D, apply to 

determinations under PLIP. The 

determination of matters of general 

applicability that are not in response to, 

or result from, an individual set of facts 

in an individual participant’s 

application for payment are not matters 

that can be appealed. Such matters of 

general applicability include, but are 

not limited to, the determination of 

payment rates and eligible livestock and 

poultry categories for PLIP. 

Participants are required to retain 

documentation in support of their 

application for 3 years after the date of 

approval. Participants receiving PLIP 

payments or any other person who 

furnishes such information to USDA 

must permit authorized representatives 

of USDA or the Government 

Accountability Office, during regular 

business hours, to enter the agricultural 

operation and to inspect, examine, and 

to allow representatives to make copies 

of books, records, or other items for the 

purpose of confirming the accuracy of 

the information provided by the 

participant. 

An applicant may file an application 

with an FSA county office after the PLIP 

application deadline, and in such case 

the application will be considered a 

request to waive the deadline. The 

Deputy Administrator has the discretion 

and authority to consider the case and 

waive or modify application deadlines 

and other requirements or program 

provisions not specified in law, in cases 

where the Deputy Administrator 

determines it is equitable to do so and 

where the Deputy Administrator finds 

that the lateness or failure to meet such 

other requirements or program 

provisions do not adversely affect the 

operation of PLIP. Although applicants 

have a right to a decision on whether 

they filed applications by the deadline 

or not, applicants have no right to a 

decision in response to a request to 

waive or modify deadlines or program 

provisions. The Deputy Administrator’s 

refusal to exercise discretion to consider 

the request will not be considered an 

adverse decision and is, by itself, not 

appealable. 

Any payment under PLIP will be 

made without regard to questions of title 

under State law and without regard to 

any claim or lien. The regulations 

governing offsets in 7 CFR part 3 do not 

apply to payments made under this part. 

In either applying for or participating 

in PLIP, or both, the eligible livestock 

owner or poultry owner is subject to 

laws against perjury and any penalties 

and prosecution resulting therefrom, 

with such laws including but not 

limited to 18 U.S.C. 1621. If the eligible 

livestock owner or poultry owner 

willfully makes and represents as true 

any verbal or written declaration, 

certification, statement, or verification 

that the eligible livestock owner or 

poultry owner knows or believes not to 

be true, in the course of either applying 

for or participating in PLIP, or both, 

then the eligible livestock owner or 

poultry owner is guilty of perjury and, 

except as otherwise provided by law, 

may be fined, imprisoned for not more 

than 5 years, or both, regardless of 

whether the eligible livestock owner or 

poultry owner makes such verbal or 

written declaration, certification, 

statement, or verification within or 

without the United States. 

For the purposes of the effect of a lien 

on eligibility for Federal programs (28 

U.S.C. 3201(e)), USDA waives the 

restriction on receipt of funds under 

PLIP but only as to beneficiaries who, as 

a condition of the waiver, agree to apply 

the PLIP payments to reduce the amount 

of the judgment lien. 

In addition to any other Federal laws 

that apply to PLIP, the following laws 

apply: 15 U.S.C. 714; and 18 U.S.C. 286, 

287, 371, and 1001. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

Requirements 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the emergency information 

collection request has been submitted to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). OMB approved the 6-month 

emergency PLIP information collection 

activity. FSA will make payments to 

producers of livestock and poultry for 

losses of livestock or poultry 

depopulated before December 27, 2020, 

due to insufficient processing access, 

based on 80 percent of the fair market 

value of the livestock and poultry, and 

for the cost of depopulation (other than 

costs already compensated under the 

Environmental Quality Incentives 

Program, state funded programs, and 

CFAP 1 and 2 payments). 

Environmental Review 

The environmental impacts have been 

considered in a manner consistent with 

the provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 

U.S.C. 4321–4347), the regulations of 

the Council on Environmental Quality 

(40 CFR parts 1500–1508), and the FSA 

regulation for compliance with NEPA (7 

CFR part 799). 

As previously stated, PLIP is 

providing payments to qualified 

producers of livestock and poultry for 

losses of livestock or poultry 

depopulated before December 27, 2020, 

due to insufficient processing access 

based on 80 percent of the fair market 

value of the livestock and poultry, and 

for the cost of depopulation. The limited 

discretionary aspects of PLIP do not 

have the potential to impact the human 

environment as they are administrative. 

Accordingly, these discretionary aspects 

are covered by the FSA Categorical 

Exclusions specified in 7 CFR 

799.31(b)(6)(iii) that applies to price 

support programs and § 799.31(b)(6)(vi) 

that applies to safety net programs. 

No Extraordinary Circumstances 

(§ 799.33) exist. As such, the 

implementation of PLIP and the 

participation in PLIP do not constitute 

major Federal actions that would 

significantly affect the quality of the 

human environment, individually or 

cumulatively. Therefore, FSA will not 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement for this 

action and this document serves as 

documentation of the programmatic 

environmental compliance decision for 

this federal action. 


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1https://www.usda.gov/oig/audit-reports/fsisrulemaking-process-proposed-rule-modernizationswine-slaughter-inspection. 

2On March 31, 2021, the U.S. District Court for 

the District of Minnesota vacated a portion of the 

NSIS final rule. The Court found that FSIS violated 

the Administrative Procedure Act because it asked 

for comments on the impact of line speed increases 

on worker safety in the proposed rule but did not 

consider these comments in the final rule. The 

Court vacated the final rule only insofar as it 

eliminated the maximum line speed cap for NSIS 

establishments. The other provisions of the final 

rule were not affected by the Court’s decision. 

3The HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project, or 

HIMP, was a pilot program for modernized poultry 

and swine inspection, data from which informed 

the New Poultry Inspection System and NSIS 

rulemakings. 

Federal Assistance Programs 

The title and number of the Federal 

assistance programs, as found in the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, 

to which this document applies is 

10.138—Pandemic Livestock Indemnity 

Program. 

USDA Non-Discrimination Policy 

In accordance with Federal civil 

rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights 

regulations and policies, USDA, its 

Agencies, offices, and employees, and 

institutions participating in or 

administering USDA programs are 

prohibited from discriminating based on 

race, color, national origin, religion, sex, 

gender identity (including gender 

expression), sexual orientation, 

disability, age, marital status, family or 

parental status, income derived from a 

public assistance program, political 

beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior 

civil rights activity, in any program or 

activity conducted or funded by USDA 

(not all bases apply to all programs). 

Remedies and complaint filing 

deadlines vary by program or incident. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication for 

program information (for example, 

braille, large print, audiotape, American 

Sign Language, etc.) should contact the 

responsible Agency or USDA TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 or 844–433– 

2774 (toll-free nationwide). 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

To file a program discrimination 

complaint, complete the USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, AD– 

3027, found online at https://

www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and 

at any USDA office or write a letter 

addressed to USDA and provide in the 

letter all the information requested in 

the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632–9992. 

Submit your completed form or letter to 

USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410 or email: OAC@

usda.gov. 

USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender. 

Zach Ducheneaux, 

Administrator, Farm Service Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15295 Filed 7–16–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2020–0023] 

Response to the Office of Inspector 

General’s Recommendations on the 

Rulemaking Process for the Proposed 

Rule Modernization of Swine Slaughter 

Inspection 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is responding 

to two recommendations from the 

USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) 

regarding the Agency’s rulemaking 

process for the proposed rule entitled 

Modernization of Swine Slaughter 

Inspection, that included the proposal 

to establish the New Swine Slaughter 

Inspection System (NSIS). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Edelstein, Assistant 

Administrator, Office of Policy and 

Program Development, telephone: (202) 

205–0495. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FSIS is providing information to 

further address two recommendations 

from the recent USDA OIG Final 

Inspection Report, FSIS Rulemaking 

Process for the Proposed Rule: 

Modernization of Swine Slaughter 

Inspection (Inspection Report 24801– 

0001–41, June 23, 2020),1 both 

concerning the presentation of data in a 

preliminary worker safety analysis that 

FSIS conducted when developing the 

proposed rule.2 FSIS already responded 

to the two recommendations and the 

responses were printed in the OIG 

report (available at https://

www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/auditreports/24801-0001-41.pdf). OIG did not 

fully accept the FSIS responses, 

however, and requested further 

clarification about the data in a public 

document. 

In its final report, OIG recommended 

(Recommendation #2) that FSIS 

communicate to the public the correct 

scope of data used in the FSIS 

preliminary worker safety analysis. 

Specifically, OIG found a typographical 

error in the sentence in the proposed 

rule that states, ‘‘FSIS compared inestablishment injury rates between 

HACCP-Based Inspection Models 

Project (HIMP) establishments and 

traditional establishments from 2002 to 

2010’’ (83 FR 4796). OIG pointed out in 

its report that for the preliminary 

worker safety analysis, FSIS also 

examined CY 2011 results for 5 of 24 

traditional establishments, which were 

outside of its stated scope of CYs 2002 

to 2010. 

FSIS has acknowledged the 

typographical error in discussions with 

OIG and noted that it did not affect the 

conclusions of the analysis or have any 

bearing on its ability to be understood. 

Regardless of what time span is used, 

from 2002 to 2010 or from 2002 to 2011, 

both show that HIMP 3 establishments 

had lower mean injury rates than nonHIMP establishments. In addition, this 

OIG recommendation was addressed in 

the publication of the final rule to 

modernize swine inspection (84 FR 

52300), where FSIS included a link (84 

FR 52305) to its Electronic Freedom of 

Information Act Reading Room, which 

contains documents that show FSIS’ full 

analysis of worker injury data. 

OIG also recommended 

(Recommendation #3) that FSIS 

communicate to the public two 

limitations of the Occupational Safety 

and Health Administration (OSHA) data 

used for FSIS’ analysis. While the 

Agency used the best publicly available 

data and requested from the public 

additional data resources on injuries in 

swine establishments, OIG contended 

that these two limitations should have 

been discussed in the proposed or final 

rules. Specifically, OIG stated that (1) 

the OSHA data the agency used in its 

analysis of the 29 establishments did 

not include injury and illness rates for 

all establishments for each of the 10 

years, and (2) the OSHA data used did 

not differentiate whether injuries/ 

illnesses occurred on the swine 

slaughter line or elsewhere within the 

establishment. 

FSIS is publishing OIG’s two 

observations about the data used in the 

preliminary worker safety analysis in 

response to OIG’s recommendation to 

communicate these observations to the 

public. Importantly, FSIS did not 

develop the preliminary worker safety 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1